


The Orphan's Dance

by carrotsblythe



Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Dancing, F/M, a prom like situation, everyone forgets gilbert is an orphan, gilbert saves the day, josie is a bully, ruby i love you but you really need to calm down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 10:44:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20190991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrotsblythe/pseuds/carrotsblythe
Summary: "I don't suppose anyone will ask you to dance," Josie sneered. "Nobody wants to dance with ugly little orphans,""Well, Josie," Gilbert said. "I believe us orphans have to stick together, don't you?"





	The Orphan's Dance

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea well before s2 came out but never got around to writing it so here it is
> 
> also dance floor really did not seem like the right words to use but I couldn't figure out what it was actually called in those days so it was the best I could do

The commotion after Anne smacked Gilbert with her slate, or after Cole fought Billy in the classroom, was nothing compared to the mayhem that followed Miss Stacy's announcement that there would be an informal ball hosted for the graduating class at the end of the school year. 

Despite it being made clear that it was an _informal_ ball, boys and girls alike considered it to be some sort of momentous occasion. Dress styles and colours were claimed so that no girl would show up wearing anything too similar. The boys argued over which girls they were or were not going to ask to dance. Poor Miss Stacy was bombarded with questions every recess. 

"You shall find out on the night," she responded, to every question she was asked. 

When the day of the ball finally arrived, the schoolhouse was bursting with excitement. The younger students said teary farewells to the graduating class, though the tears were mostly on account of them not being allowed to attend the ball.

Josie Pye boasted the whole morning of all the boys who she_ knew_ were going to ask her to dance. Ruby Gillis was in hysterics after overhearing Gilbert say he wasn't fond of pink, which was the colour of her dress for the evening. Jane Andrews simply wanted it all to be over quickly, as she was not overly interested in the affair. 

Anne Shirley was extremely excited for the prospect of a proper ball, unlike Aunt Josephine's Summer Soiree, but she was also certain that she was going to spend the whole evening utterly alone. Surely none of her classmates would ask her to dance, and Diana would be far too preoccupied with various suitors to spend any time with her. Anne was almost considering asking Miss Stacy if she could bring Jerry with her, but she knew that even Jerry would be more desirable to dance with than she was.

Despite the anxiety of her impending loneliness, Anne was still amazed to see the town hall when she arrived later that night. It was completely unrecognisable. Paper streamers had been strung across the ceiling, tables were dotted around the perimeter of the room, filled with the most delicious treats courtesy of the Mrs Barry, and glass vases filled with spring flowers covered every surface. It wasn't quite as grandiose as Aunt Josephine's, but it still looked like a scene straight out of a storybook.

Anne was relatively late for the ball, as Jerry thought it would be hilarious to pull on one of her braids as she was leaving, and Anne was far too vain to attend a ball with a slightly loose braid. 

Diana was standing at a table not too far away with Josie Pye, and appeared to be having a miserable time. 

""Oh, Anne!" Diana cried, as she saw her walk in, and gestured for her to join them. "I'm so glad you're here. I don't think I would have lasted much longer on my own with Josie Pye," she added the last part in a whisper. 

"It's beautiful!" Anne exclaimed, looking around the room. "Miss Stacy did such a wonderful job,"

"_I_ think this is the worst ball I've ever been to," Josie Pye huffed. "Its nothing like a _real_ ball. Its just a children's ball, even though we aren't children anymore," She looked sideways at Anne. "Although some of us may act like it,"

Just as Diana was about to scold Josie for saying such mean things about her bosom friend, Moody Spurgeon appeared, tripping over his own feet as he walked towards them.

"Um, hello, Diana," he said nervously, as a group of boys were standing not to far away, giving him looks of encouragement. "Would you like to dance with me?"

Diana glanced hopefully at Anne. She felt awful about leaving Anne alone with her bully, but Anne smiled and said to Moody; "She would _love_ to,"

Diana gave a grateful smile to Anne and disappeared past the group of boys with Moody, leaving Anne by herself with Josie. 

There was an awkward silence. Anne tried to begin a conversation with Josie, in the hopes that she would magically loose all of her nastiness for one glorious night and actually be kind to her.

"I thought you were looking forward to dancing?" Anne said. 

"I don't want to dance yet," Josie answered snappily. 

"Why not?"

"Its better to leave the boys waiting for a while before you accept anyone's invitation. But I have already been asked by many boys," Josie lied. 

"Oh," said Anne, confused about Josie's way of approaching dancing, but knowing better than to oppose it out loud. 

"I don't suppose anyone will ask _you _to dance," Josie sneered. "Nobody wants to dance with _ugly little orphans_,"

Gilbert Blythe, who had been standing at the side of the scene, trying to think of a way to ask Anne to dance without her getting angry at him and never speaking to him again, had overheard the entire conversation. 

At first he thought he had imagined it. He knew Josie Pye was mean, but not _this_ mean. He was overcome with silent fury, and he felt like marching right over there and giving Josie a piece of his mind. But Gilbert knew Anne could deal with these sorts of things by herself. She had done so before, with himself and Billy, so she could do it with Josie too. 

Only she didn't. 

Gilbert wondered if she had already said something and missed it, but he knew that wasn't possible. If Anne had started talking at any point he would have been the first to listen. So why wasn't she saying anything to Josie?

Well, if Anne wasn't going to, Gilbert would. 

He walked over to the table where they were standing, and Josie immediately wiped the something-unpleasant-is-under-my-nose sort of expression she wore whenever she was around Anne, and exchanged it for a sickly-sweet sort of face she reserved for any possible suitors. Anne could not speak to Gilbert, but Josie could, and she planned to make a very favourable impression of herself so that Gilbert would ask her to dance. 

"Well, Josie," Gilbert said, with no more desire of asking her to dance than to stick his foot in a slop bucket. "I believe us orphans have to stick together, don't you?"

Josie attempted to stutter out a response to save herself, but only succeeded in making herself look like a fool. 

Gilbert held out his hand to Anne and smiled, and she was left with a difficult choice;

Should she dance with Gilbert?

If she did, Josie would likely tell Ruby, who would cry inconsolably for days and never forgive her. Also, Anne really didn't like Gilbert all that much. They had formed some sort of truce, and acted pleasantly towards one another, but they were nothing more than friends at most. However, if she decided not to go with Gilbert, she would be stuck with Josie, and any situation where spending time with Josie was involved, Anne did not enjoy. Suddenly, dancing with Gilbert did not seem like such a bad idea after all. 

"Alright," Anne said quietly, taking Gilbert's hand and throwing a satisfied glance at Josie over her shoulder. Gilbert led Anne to the dance floor, where she immediately regretted her decision and wished she had stayed with Josie after all. 

Anne did not know how to dance. She had danced by herself, and with Diana, but never properly. She had never seen anyone dance before, only read about it, and she had come to realise that often what one read about was not considered 'proper' in civilised society. The closest she had ever come to dancing was at the Summer Soiree, when a man dressed as a sunflower twirled her around for a brief moment, but she was not sure if that counted. If Gilbert was a good dancer (which she assumed he was, considering he seemed to be good at everything) then Anne was going to die of embarrassment. She decided to try and begin a conversation to distract herself from the dancing. 

"Its rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, you know," Anne said, but Gilbert remained quiet. He was staring into the distance, like he was in deep thought. "Gilbert, are you alright?"

"Doesn't it bother you when people say all that stuff about being an orphan?" he asked. 

Anne was rather taken aback. She had never imagined that Gilbert would be so sensitive to anything bad said about him, or especially about _her_. 

"It used to, I suppose. But now I know there are worse things to be called than an orphan, and really all of the insults are the same. They get boring after a while," Anne smiled, but Gilbert still frowned. "Besides, now I know better than to listen to anything Josie Pye has to say about me. She wouldn't know a thing about human decency if someone slapped her across the face with it,"

Gilbert chuckled, but his mind was still plagued. "How come no one ever says that stuff to me? I'm an orphan too,"

"These people have known you all their lives. They probably forget. To them you're still the same old Gilbert Blythe,"

"How can that be?" Gilbert said in disbelief. "I feel like a completely different person,"

"_I_ can see that, but you hide it very well," Anne said. 

There was a pause. Anne had barely even noticed that they had begun dancing. 

"I thought you would have given Josie a piece of your mind after she said something like that," Gilbert said. 

Anne blushed bright red. "I'm trying to control my temper," she admitted. 

"I like your temper," Gilbert said quietly.

Just then, Diana caught Anne's eye from across the room. She was gesturing to the end of the ballroom, where a very smug looking Josie was now standing with a teary-eyed Ruby.

Anne panicked. "Gilbert, can you do something for me?"

"Yes, of course," he said, looking confused. 

"Great," she said, taking his hand and dragging him off of the dance floor and towards Ruby. 

"Hello, Ruby. Gilbert was waiting for you to arrive so that he could ask you to dance. Weren't you, Gilbert?" she urged him.

"Um... yes," he said, looking between Anne and Ruby, unsure how to act. "Well, um, do you? Want to dance, I mean?" he asked Ruby, who was now beaming.

"Yes! I would love to, Gilbert!" she said excitedly.

Gilbert took Ruby's hand and led her to the dance floor, feeling very awkward and uncomfortable, but trying to remain polite for Ruby's sake. 

Anne caught his eye as he was leaving and mouthed _"thank you" _and responded with a slight bow of his head and his signature smirk. Normally, that would have made Anne want to reach for her unbroken slate, but something about its sentiment made her feel warm and fluttery inside, so she smiled back. 

"Just because he asked you to dance, it doesn't mean he likes you," Josie sulked. 

"Just because nobody asked _you_, doesn't mean you have to spoil it for everybody else," Anne said, walking away, and planning to spend the rest of the night as far away from Josie Pye as humanly possibly. 

And if Gilbert happened to ask her to dance again, maybe, just maybe, she might say yes.

**Author's Note:**

> please leave comments if you liked this lol


End file.
